Mission K9 Ensures Military Working Dogs Retire at Home

Mission K9 made it their mission to save retired military working dogs and give them the hero's welcome and the loving homes that they all deserve.

Mission K9

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When Kristen Maurer learned that contract military working dogs are often euthanized or released, rather than being retired at home, she knew she had to do something.

"These dogs have served their country; they have saved lives. Because of that they deserve the best retirement can offer."

Kristen founded Mission K9 with the goal to rescue, reunite, re-home, rehabilitate and repair any retired working dog that has served mankind in some capacity. Kristen personally traveled to Kuwait and began working directly with military contract organizations to bring retired dogs back to the U.S. to retire at home.

“These dogs have served their country; they have saved lives. Because of that they deserve the best retirement can offer,” said Maurer. Since 2013, Mission K9 has reunited more than 60 handler teams and they have rescued and adopted more than 170 dogs.

In 2017, the Petco Foundation was proud to award Mission K9 the Helping Heroes Award. “These retired working dogs didn’t have anyone fighting for them,” said Susanne Kogut, Executive Director of the Petco Foundation. “Mission K9 made it their mission to save these animals’ lives and give them the hero’s welcome and the loving homes that they all deserve. The entire Mission K9 team is humble, dedicated and incredibly courageous. We are proud to support their lifesaving work.”